Presidential polls stalled Gujarat election

Shahid K Abbas in New Delhi

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee convinced Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to not go for early assembly election in the state, keeping in mind the electoral dynamics for the Presidential polls due in June, BJP sources told rediff.com on Sunday.

Sources said the party is eager to field its nominee for the polls.

They said that the strategy is not to disturb the electoral arithmetic for the Presidential polls by dissolving the Gujarat assembly, while giving a face-saving formula to NDA partners demanding Modi's head.

The sources said that had Modi dissolved the assembly and called for election, it would have led to a point of no return between the BJP and the opposition parties on the question of sorting out the current Parliament impasse.

With this move, the sources claimed, the prime minister has given enough elbow room to the opposition leaders and his discontented NDA partners.

Though the floor managers of the ruling front have failed to convince the opposition to break the impasse, they seem to be cutting ice with NDA partners, giving the argument that now they have convinced Modi not to go for fresh polls, the partners should understand the compulsions of BJP.

Regarding the Presidential polls, the sources said that the current electoral college, counting the Telugu Desam Party and the Trinamool Congress, is tilted in the ruling party's favour making it possible to install a strong pro-BJP man at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The BJP, which has an overwhelming majority in the Gujarat assembly, would have seen its hopes of installing a pro-BJP President dented had it dissolved the assembly.

Currently, BJP and its allies with 439 MPs and 1680 MLAs, including that of TDP, Trinamool and the BSP sums up to be 5,89,842 votes as against 5,04,225, of the opposition led by the Congress with 332 MPs and 2429 MLAs.

If the TDP, Left Parties and the Samajwadi Party field a third candidate, there would be second preference votes and the results could be tricky.